Valve



Apr. 1o, 1923.

- 1,451,473 vv. E.v PULVERMAN VALVE Filed Dec 20, 1919 retreated am. ie, teas.

WILLIAM E. PUL'VERMAN, 0F HERES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA.

VALVE'.

f Application led December 20, 1919. Seria1 No. 346,360.

venting leakage around the stem of a valve.A

Heretoforejthere has been provided a gland which surroundedthe valve stem, and

was usually packed with rubber or other soft material, which was apt to become leaky. An object of the invention is to l eliminate the disadvantages of the ordinary yielding packing, and to providea simple and efficient means for rendering the valve stem, airor water-tight.

In carrying out the invention, I have provided a valve-operating stem which does not move endwise, and which carries at its outer end a wheel, its yinner endbeing threaded into the valve,so that rotation of the stem lifts and lowersy the valve. The

kstem is formed` with a shoulder portion,

` which preferably consists of an enlargement integral with the stern and having at one end a beveled or coned surface, which fits a beveled depression or cup preferably formed in an interior flange which is cast upon the bonnet. The shoulder and the cup are both accurately finished, preferably making a ground joint. The shoulder may be forced against its seat by means of a binding device of which two varieties are illustrated. Because of the ground fitting of the shoulder to its seat, and the hard pressure of the shoulder upon theseat, loss of steam or air or other Huid is prevented. Thus the screw is held immovable endwise, and leakage is also eliminated, without setting up undue friction or opposition to the rotation of the stem and hand-wheel.

In one form of the invention, the ground shoulder is formed upon the under side of the enlargement, and a cap or binding device bears down against the upper end of the enlargement, to hold the shoulder tight in has faeinngs 12 to lit said seats.

its seat; said cap having flanges and bolts for securing the required adjustment.v

In another form, the shoulder or enlargement is driven up against an inverted cup by `means of a nut, which is threaded upon lthe stem above the cup. flange and preferably runs upon bearing-balls, for which a raceway is formed in the flange. In this form of, the invention, the pressure of the confined ,luid is made of use in forcing the shoulder'to its seat,.so that the greater the pressure. of lfluid the tighter will be the joint. The invention, however, is not limited to either form herein illustrated.

@th-er features and advantages will here-4 inafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a packlessvalve embodying the present improvements in one form, usable for either low or high pressure work.`

Figure 2 isa part-sectional view illustrating the invention in another form, for use with low or medium pressure.

' At both Figures 1 and 2, the gate valve 10 slides up and down between seats 11and The movements of the vvalve are effected by turning a hand-wheel 'or the like 13, which is secured by a nut 14 to the top of the shank 15 of the valve stem. This stem, which is immovable endwise, is provided at its lower end with'threads 16, which screw into the valve k10. Hence by rotating the handwheel the valve may be raised from` or lowered to its seat, depending upon the direction of rotation of the hand-wheel. The length of the threaded portion 16 upon the lower end of the stem is sufficient to enable n it to open thevalve wide; sufiicient clearance being provided' within the valvefitting at 17 to accommodate the rising valve. The valve is preferably provided with a bushing 18 into which the screw is threaded; and the threads arepreferably left-hand, so that a rotation of the hand-wheel to the right will close the valve.

The bonnet portion ofthe valve, which contains the clearance 17, iS divided into upper and lower upright sections'19, 20, saidk section cast upon the body portion 21 ot the valve fitting. Construction of the bonnet in sections permits the insertion of the valve downwardly into the iitting, whereupon the sections may be connected by bolts 22. y

Referring now to Figure 2, in place of the usual soft packing or gland for providing escape of fluid around the upper portion of the stein, l make the valve stemiiuid-tight, or :torm a seal, bv simple .and eiiicient means comprising preferably an enlargement inthe form of a bolster 23 carried upon the stem also to avoid possibility ot loosening and leakage which might occur if the bolster were made separately and placed upon the stem, although vthe invention is not in all cases limited to an integral bolster, enlargement or shoulder. It will be seen that the valve stem has thereon a beveled shoulder upon the seat 25.

24 to form a fluid-tight ground joint with the seat in the bonnet. y,

The shoulder 24 is tightened to its seat by means `oi a binding device preferably in the form ot a gland or cap 27, which ymay lit over the bolster to hold the same down The upper endk of the bolster may be beveled .at 2S, and the gland may be correspondingly cupped at 29. The screw shank 15 extends up through the head of this binder or gland. The gland may be caused to press down upon the bolster 23 by means of bolts 30 passing through ears 81, 32 formed on the .gland and on the upper end ot the bonnet; and the desired pressure at the ground joint may be secured by adjusting these bolts or screws.

In assembling the parts, they valve lOinay be inserted through the lower bonnet section 20, and the stem may be inserted through the bonnet and threaded into the 4top ot they valve, the flanged bonnet sections being first secured together by the bolts 22; then the gland 27 may be secured over the top of the valvestem, and the handwheel 13 may be placed upon the shank 15 and .secured by the nut la, Then the bolts 30 may be used to bind the gland down upon the bolster, to secure .the required fluid-tight pressure at the ground oint.

The seat in the ground joint is preterably 'tornicd uponthe material of the bonnet, but a ground facing or lining may be inserted at such seat if desired, within the scope et the invention.

A torni of the invention that is not only usable for low pressures but is especially adapted tor extremely high pressures, is seen at Figure 1, in which the enlargement or bolster 33 is placed below an inverted seat 34- iiormed in an interior flange-5a in the bonnet. rl`his bolster 33 forms a short integral collar upon the screw 16, and `has a beveled shoulder 35 forming a ground oint with the ybonnet seat 34. rlhe pressure of the iiuid tends to press the shoulder up against its seat, or to close the joint, this tendency increasing with the pressure of the fluid. This shoulder is normally 'forced against the seat by means ot a binding device or gland in Athe :t'orin of a nut 86, which is threaded upon the screw stem above the shoulder 35, and which may be screwed down until the shoulder is drawn tightly to the seat; and the adjustment may be preserved by means of a lock nut 37. l Both nuts may be confined within a cap 38 that may be secured to 'the top ot the bonnet by means of bolts 39. Bearing-balls kmay be interposed between the binding` nut 36 and a raceway l1 formed in the bonnet above the seat, so that the valve-wheel 13 may be rotated easily, notwithstanding the heavy pressure of the `shoulder 35 against its seat.

The division of the bonnet into upper and lower sections not only facilitates the as sembling of the valve, but also permits the stein to be assembled by thrusting it up through the upper section, when it may be screwed down into the valve, and the bonnet sections' may then be closed by the bolts. Then the binding nuts 36, 37 and the bearingballs 40 may be inserted and adjusted, and the cap 3S then Jfastened on, and the handwheel 18 secured.

It will be seen that opportunity for .the fluidy to escape is limited to a single joint, and that this joint forms an eflicient seal. The valve stem makes a one-piece direct connection between the operating handle and the valve itself, andthe shoulder element of the sealed joint is a part ot `this stem. The valve 10 is raised and lowered by means ot threads on the stem engaging with threads in the valve itsel't, there beingabsence of threads on the interior of the framework, thus producing a construction simple and inexpensive. The lseal is made by direct contact ot the enlargement on the stem with the seat in the bonnet, preferably without the'use of a sleeve or other medium. ln other words the stem and `the bonnet co-operate to Jform a joint, thus eliminating the need of other ,parts and simplifying the construction.

ylt Vwill be seen that l have eliminated the need for the usual yielding packing which is taken up with afgland, and have made a ground joint between v'the valve stem and the body or t framework, producing a packless valve which is steam, air andwatertight, so that any amount o-rpressure can small valves.

Variations may be resorted to within'the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used. without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: i j

n 1. The combination of a casing having a seat, a gate valve fitted thereto, saidcasing comprising a bonnet into which` said gate valve rises, a rotary stem in said bonnet hav,- ing at its lower end a screw connection with said valve, said bonnet provided with an integral interior flange and said stem having below saidflange an integral shoulder to fit saidlange, a binding nut screw-threaded upon said stem and a bearing upon said bonnet on which the nut unyieldingly rests, for forcing the shoulder up against the flange to form a leak-proof joint and prevent any endwise movement of thestem, said bonnet formed in upper andlowersections, and means for detachably joining said sections.

2.` The combination of a stem, a handwheel thereon, a gate valve into which the ,f stem screws, so that the rotation of the stem will raise and lower the valve, a casing in which said valve is mounted, said casing comprising a bonnet into which said gate valve rises, said bonnet being divided into separable upper and lower sections, a bolster or enlargement formed integrally upon said stem and having a beveled finished shoulder, j

a flange above said bolster within the upper section of said bonnet and integral with said upper section and formed with a cup having a finished surface to fit said shoulder to render the joint fluid-tight, and a binding screw-threaded nut above said flange and having an unyielding bearing upon` said casing and a threaded bearing upon said stem, to force said shoulder constantly upl against said cup to overcome leakage and a cover Jfor the nut.

3. The combination ofy a stem, a handwheel thereon, agate valve into which the stem screws, so thatthe rotation of the stem will raiseand lower the valve, a casing in which said' valve 'is mounted, said casing comprising a bonnet into which the* gate valve rises, said .bonnet being ydivided `into upper and lower separable sections, a bolster or enlargement formedii'itegrally upon said stem and having a beveled finished shoulder, a' flange withinfthe upper section of'said bonnet andV integral therewith and 'formed on its under side with a cup having a finished surface to fit said shoulder to render the joint fluid-tight,a screw-threaded nut having an unyielding bearing upon said casing and a bearing upon said stem, to force said shoulder up against said cup, and bearingballs fork said binding device saidk nut being seated directly on said balls.

4. The combination, of a stem, a handwheelthereon, a gate valvek into whichthe stem screws, so that the rotation of the stem will raise and lower the valve, a casing in which said valve is mounted, said casing comprising a bonnet into which the gate valve rises', said bonnet being divided into upper and lower separable sections, a bolster or. enlargement formedk kintegrally upon said stem and having a beveled finishedr thecbinding device and is provided with a Y portion `which is bolted to said bonnet, `said shoulder being beveled upon its upper face and'sai'd cup being formed in the lowerface of said flange.

5. The combination 'of a casing having a seat, a valve movable upon said seat, a rotatable stem. element having at one yend a screw connection with said valvegfor operating the same, said stem havingva wheel or Y the like on its other end, and provided with 'an intermediate integral shoulder portion,

an interi'orflange element formed upon saidv H casing integrally therewith to fit said shoulder portion, means for forcing said shoulder portion and said fiange together to prevent endwise movement ofthe stem and make a fluid-tight joint, one of said'shoulder and flange elements having a ground bevel portion, and the other of said elements beveled and ground to fit thereto, said forcing means in theform of a binding device threaded upon said stem and having a bearing upon said interior flange, bearing-balls being placed under said binding device and bearingv directly upon the top of said flange, said shoulder being beveled upon its upper face and said flange upon its lowerv face, and said binding devicev fcnggwntly binding Seid Shoulder LQ Said .flange t0 Overcome leakage, and a @gp surmounfting Seid @gsi-ng M151 fsecur'ed thereto below seid Wheel and -enel-'osvxlg lseid binding 1devioeand rkloearllg-bel1 5.

6. A. valve Comprising Seat; a gate *valve forv seid seat, a screw threaded stem forr operating Seid Valve and haying vthereon an illtgral Shoulder and en upper bear-inea a gemme upper loeerng.

WILLIAM E. PULVERMAN. Witnesses:

' H. F. BANTHAM,

S. P. F1031'. 

